AAACEUs Blog

In this month's article we discuss the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Eligibility Act that was adopted in August, 2016. We hear from many professionals impacted by the NOTICE Act that adoption of the new rules and process has come with the standard set of growing pains and additional controversies. In this article, we'll discuss some of the most common controversies and points of confusion for both patients and professionals alike.

In 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) released their new pain management standards. These new standards led to a commonly held perception that should be seen as the "5th vital sign". At the time, patients' pain was not being managed well and the emphasis of the new guidelines was to address this concern. It is a commonly held belief that this led to a period of overprescribing that was one of the many factors that contributed to the opioid crisis.